Q&A

March 19, 2013

Thanks for all of the letters!  I love hearing from everyone.  Any news in here is exciting, and it really makes the day and week go by faster!  I'm glad to hear Grandma Layton is doing well.  I got a great letter from her last week.  Send her my love!  I'm doing well this morning!!  The end of this week was much better than the beginning-I've tried to stay positive and just enjoy being here.  It has really helped, even though I still miss everyone! 

Lets see...now for Q&A...

Normal schedule:  Wake up at 6:30, get ready, breakfast at 7:30, personal study for an hour, companion study for half hour or so, gym, lunch at 12, language study, class (3hrs), dinner at 5, class (another 3 hours) and then planning and bed--lights out by 10:30!  The different things may move around a bit depending on the day but thats basically it. Doesn't it sound exciting?! We decided we have to come up with things that differentiate one day from another.  I've been showering after gym, whenever that is whether in the morning or at night.  I haven't straightened my hair once--its too much effort knowing I will just have to do it again the next day! I'll probably send both my straightener and blow dryer home before we leave here.  The bathrooms aren't awful.  We will usually leave gym 5 minutes early or so so we don't have to wait for the showers, which helps.  There are tons of people everywhere though!

P-Day schedule...wake up at 5:15 to do laundry so we don't have to deal with the rush later in the day, and have time to email.  Then I took a nap last week... Personal study from 11-12, lunch at 12, temple at 12:45, then have the afternoon to do what we want until dinner at 5, then a devotional that evening!  Its nice to have a little time to ourselves, but it goes by so fast then its back to work!  This week went by a lot faster than last though.  I think we've gotten into a good routine. 

I don't know if I have a favorite meal so far.  Does the BYU ice cream count?  There's always some sort of burger with delicious curly fries which is pretty good.  The things they try to make fancyish--like wild rice--usually end up being gross.  There is a wrap/salad bar that I have a lot.  I'm not really ever hungry though which is good!  The diet coke was definitely delicious.  Thanks for that! Feel free to send more:)  I still have 2 bottles left. 

My companion Sis Scott has 4 sisters-she's in the middle.  She went to esthetics school, and wants to go to nursing school at BYU when we get back.  Or do something with Korean.  Who knows.  I think we all want to do something with it so we don't forget any of it.  We're working to hard for that!  She's from Temekula (yeah don't know how to spell that).  We have had a great time together, along with the other sisters in our district/room!  Even though its crowded with 6, its definitely really fun!

There are a lot of Korean sisters around us.  There are 30 native Koreans who got here last week, and fly out next week with the older group who are going to various missions in Korea.  They are so funny!  They are loud, and we hear them all night haha.  They are excited to be here though.  I can already tell I'll love the Korean people. 

Our Branch President, President Shin, got released on Sunday because he is going to be the new mission president in Daejeon in July.  Tell everyone at the pharmacy to take good care of him:).  He and his wife are great and we will miss them!  The new branch president, who was a counselor before, is Pres. Yost.  He doesn't speak Korean, he was actually a mission president in the Czech Republic, but is great.  It will be fun to get to know him better.  The first counselor is Brother Perrington, who is from New Zealand, and worked for General Motors in Korea, so has lived there and I think was a mission president there at one point.  I really like him and his wife.  The new counselor is Brother Snow.  He was also a mission president in Korea a while ago.  That's all I really know about him. 

The chips and salsa were great the other night!  Between the 6 of us, we polished them off pretty quick.  I can't think of any specific treats now.  Anything is really great! Its always fun to get packages:)

Scary that Josh is driving!  Tell him not to crash, and that you are probably right when telling him how to drive even if he doesn't want to listen like I didn't.  Obviously something got through because I would say I'm a pretty good driver. Haha we'll see if thats still true after I don't drive for 18 months.  I loved getting the pictures from the temple.  Send more from stuff going on at home--the office especially!  Can't wait to see it! 

If you get a minute this week, you should watch the "Earthly Father, Heavenly Father" mormon message.  We found out we could watch them via LDS.org on the computers in the classroom, which was fun.  I thought it so cute and reminded me of when we were little! 

I'm doing a lot better than the beginning of the week--the other day one of my teachers said that even if we (Emily) can't do some of this, through the Lord's help, Sister Burgoyne can!  Even though the Korean can get frustrating and we still have a lot to learn, I have to remind myself it is not something that keeps us from teaching what we want when we don't know the words, but a tool to help us share the gospel with a whole new group of people!  The other night after our devotional, Brother Perrington mentioned that while we only have 18 months to serve, we have eternity to reflect on our service!  I really think that is so important!  Even though I may get frustrated now, I know that as I put all of my effort into this work, I will be blessed and be so happy to see the blessings for the rest of my life, and how it will positively effect everyone around me! 

Love you and miss you all so much!  I am getting a migraine so need to go back and sleep for a bit so hopefully it goes away!

Emily (Sister Burgoyne)